Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Basement Archives #2

June 22-25,
1967

A
near-capacity crowd was on its feet to witness a photo finish Wednesday night,
June 22, at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds’ half-mile oval. Bill Hudson of New
Sharon, Iowa, grabbed the lead at the start of the 15-lapper and was never
headed. Marvin Korns of Brooklyn, Iowa, however, made it interesting and pressured
Hudson, racing side-by-side the last few laps of the contest with Hudson
winning by the length of a bumper at the finish.

The largest
crowd of the season at Air-View Speedway in Monticello, Iowa, watched a
tremendous see-saw battle Friday night, June 23, as Dick Nestby of Dubuque and
Bill Zwanziger of Waterloo fought it out for the top. Nestby finally wrestled
the lead from Zwanziger on lap 15 and despite late pressure from Waterloo’s Red
Droste, was able to pull away for the win. Droste would settle for second
followed by Zwanziger, Tom Hughes of Monticello and Ed Sanger of Waterloo.

Super
modified racing finally got off and running after two weeks of rainouts at the
Southern Iowa Fairgrounds on Friday evening. Joe Saldana of Lincoln, Neb., took
Jack Thompson’s green flag at the beginning of the 15-lap feature and never
looked back, lapping everyone but the second and third-place finishers. Lonnie
Jensen, also of Lincoln, finished a distant second while Earl Wagner of
Pleasantville, Iowa, took third.

Ron Weedon
of Pleasant Valley, Iowa, chauffeured his Ford to his first feature win of the
season at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport on Friday night.
Weedon ran unchallenged for most of the 25-lap contest, winning handily over
Don Bohlander, Johnny Beauchamp and Bill McDonough. Heat winners were Lyle
McNull and Lyle Behne while Bruce Sunbeck won the semi-main and Fred Strube was
first in the consolation.

John Moss of
Iowa City led the last half of the 50-lap feature to win the Mississippi Valley
Speed Club mid-season championship at West Liberty Raceway on Saturday, June
24. Moss took over the top spot midway through the contest when race leader
Mark Mosier of Washington lost his left front wheel on the backstretch. Moss
crossed the finish line less than a car length ahead of Mel Morris of West
Liberty. Tom Stewart of Washington, the race’s leader for the first 12
circuits, grabbed third place.

Larry
Cannon, the likeable lead foot from Oakwood, Ill., dominated the super modified
races at American Legion Speedway in Fairbury, Ill., on Saturday night. Cannon
quieted the rest of his competitors, setting fast time (15.66), winning the
6-lap dash, his 10-lap heat, and the 25-lap feature to sweep the card. Steve
Cannon, Larry’s younger brother, would finish second in the main event, followed
by Bubby Jones of Danville, Ill.

Defending 34
Race Ways modified champion Duane Stoneking ended his streak of hard luck as he
won the “A” main and the trophy dash on Saturday night. “Stoney” started on the
pole by virtue of setting fast time and moved from that spot to lead all 20
laps en route to the checkers. He won by a comfortable margin over Ron Jackson
and Mike Niffenegger. Bob Lane, Jackson and Kenny Ellis were heat winners and
Fibber McGee was the “B” feature winner.

Ramo Stott
of Keokuk, Iowa, won the 75-lap stock car feature at Soldier Field in Chicago
Saturday night after battling head to head with Sal Tovella of Addison, Ill.
Tovella, who recorded fast time in qualifying, received special permission from
the United States Auto Club to compete in the event. A crowd of 4,975 hardy
fans braved cold, damp weather to see the IMCA-sanctioned feature, in which
Stott took the lead on lap 44 after trailing Tovella from the start. Making his
first career start at Soldier field, 1966 IMCA national champion Ernie Derr of
Keokuk, Iowa, finished third.

Don
Bohlander, the Glasford, Ill., charger easily pushed his 1963 Plymouth to
victory before a very slim and cold crowd at Peoria Speedway on Saturday
evening. Bohlander, starting in the last row, worked his way through the field
and passed leader Alan May on lap 16. He was never seriously challenged after
that and cruised to his second straight feature win. Jim Strube of Peoria would
take runner-up honors with John Beauchamp of Atlantic, Iowa, grabbing the final
podium spot.

Delayed by
rain for a day, the weekly super stock races at Marshalltown Speedway were held
Sunday evening, June 25, with Jerry LeCroy of Des Moines walking off with the
feature victory. A Central Iowa Fair-sized crowd was on hand to watch LeCroy
edge out Bob Bonzer of Liscomb for the top prize. Following LeCroy and Bonzer
to the finish line were Curt Hogue of Ames, Iowa, Dave Brannon of Marshalltown
and Bob Eurom of Marshalltown.

Darrel Dake
of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, driving his 1967 Ford, was the big winner in the late
model class at Speedbowl Park in Sterling, Ill., on Sunday. Dake finished
almost half a lap ahead of the field at the checkers, well ahead of Verlin
Eaker, John Connolly, Alan May and Ed Bohlen. Dake also won his heat race and
semi-main, making it a clean sweep on the evening.

Red Droste
of Waterloo added to his string of victories as he won the feature Sunday night
at Tunis Speedway. It was the fourth consecutive night that the purse exceeded
$2,000, with a total purse of $2,600 being paid this night. Roger Kruse of
Independence, the first heat winner, lead in the early going before Droste took
over and pulled away from the field. Bill Zwanziger of Waterloo, the third heat
winner, took second in the main event while Cal Swanson of Reinbeck was third,
Mert Williams of Rochester, Minn., grabbed fourth and Ed Sanger of Waterloo
rounded out the top five.

Lyle McNall
of Aledo, Ill., outdueled fellow townsman Del Williams and won the 25-lap IMCA
late model main at Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill., on Sunday night. Not
only did McNall and Williams finish one-two in the feature but in the first
heat as well. The feature victory at Quad City was McNall’s first in over two
years. He won his first feature there in his rookie year of 1965. McNall
started on the outside of the front row and built a quarter-lap lead at the
beginning. Midway through the race, Williams, who started in the third row, had
worked his way through traffic and was in hot pursuit of McNall. Williams made
up considerable ground but ran out of laps and was unable to catch the leader,
who was piloting a 1961 Studebaker powered by a 327 cubic-inch Chevrolet motor.

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Preserving the history of Midwest Auto Racing

So much racing history has been made through the years right here in the Midwest.

From the rich dirt ovals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska to the paved short tracks in Minnesota and Wisconsin, some of the best drivers ever to get behind the wheel of a race car competed right here in the heartland.

We all have our own story to share about our favorite driver who thrilled us everytime they rolled onto the track or that one particular race that still stands out as the greatest they ever saw.

We'll go back in history, 10, 20, 30, 40, even 50 years ago (even more) and reminisce about what has made racing in the Midwest so special for us.